


bush

by romanticalgirl



Series: December Ficlets 2007 [31]
Category: Hornblower - C. S. Forester
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-08
Updated: 2013-04-08
Packaged: 2017-12-07 20:51:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/752950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanticalgirl/pseuds/romanticalgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted 12-14-07</p>
    </blockquote>





	bush

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted 12-14-07

The sun is like fire on his skin, sweat rolling down his spine beneath the wool of his jacket. His hat shields his eyes, but does nothing to protect him from the glare off the aching blue of the sea. It flashes white like flares in the distance, a battle between sky and sea, waging their own war in the calm silence of Sunday afternoon.

He can hear the men below, the sound deadened somewhat by the deck, the measures of rum well-drunk and dispensed with. They sit, not moving, waiting for something to happen. He can hear Sawyer through the open window, talking to himself in a language of old victories and current deceptions. He hears the note of madness in his voice, but denies it to himself. A man does not betray his captain.

Still, a tremor of unease moves through Renown as though it knows that there is whispered talk and danger lurking in dark corners. He hears and he sees, he knows that the others conspire against the captain, speak words not mentioned. He hears the shiver of mutiny and presses his lips together, willing it gone, willing them all away from the edge of insanity.

He busies himself with duty and tries not to see the clandestine looks that pass between his other officers, tries not to hear the whispers from both sides, mutiny and madness and himself caught between. It is Hornblower who sways him. There are no true words of mutiny, just of honor and duty and responsibility. He doesn’t have the indecision and incompetence of Buckland, nor the impulsiveness and impetuousness of Kennedy. He is steady and sure of what is right.

Bush doesn’t know that he is right, but he knows now that there is no other recourse and he would rather be damned being in the right than being in the wrong, or than by standing by and doing nothing.


End file.
